{"id":319202,"date":"2026-04-15T21:16:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=319202"},"modified":"2026-04-15T21:16:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:46:44","slug":"u-s-youtuber-johnny-somali-jailed-in-south-korea-after-statue-stunt-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/15\/u-s-youtuber-johnny-somali-jailed-in-south-korea-after-statue-stunt-national\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. YouTuber Johnny Somali jailed in South Korea after statue stunt – National"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An American YouTuber who sparked outrage in South Korea for provocative stunts, including dancing on and kissing a statue honouring victims of wartime sexual slavery, was sentenced to 6 months in prison on public nuisance and other charges by a Seoul court on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The Seoul Western District Court found Ramsey Khalid Ismael, a self-proclaimed web \u201ctroll\u201d known online as Johnny Somali, guilty of multiple charges, including obstruction of business and distributing fabricated sexually explicit content, in accordance with The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Somali, 25, was ordered into immediate detention following the decision. He had been barred from leaving South Korea since his indictment in 2024 after he was deemed a flight risk.<\/p>\n

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Prosecutors had sought a three-year term for Somali, who also faced accusations of harassing staff and visitors at an amusement park, disrupting a convenience store by blasting music and upending noodles onto a table, causing similar scenes on a bus and subway and distributing non-consensual deepfake videos.<\/p>\n

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The court said Somali displayed \u201csevere\u201d disrespect for South Korean law and noted that he offended countless individuals with livestreamed stunts aimed toward generating YouTube revenue.<\/p>\n

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In October 2024, Somali sparked outrage in South Korea after posting a video of himself kissing and performing a lap dance on the Statue of Peace, a bronze statue commemorating victims of the Japanese military\u2019s sexual slavery in the course of the Second World War.<\/p>\n

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He apologized for his actions and claimed that he was \u201cnot aware of the importance of the statue\u201d before removing the clip from YouTube.<\/p>\n

Along with his prison term, Somali was sentenced to an additional 20 days in detention and is barred for five years from working with children and folks with disabilities following his release, NBC News reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe defendant repeatedly committed crimes against unspecified members of the general public to generate profit via YouTube and distributed the content in disregard of Korean law,\u201d the court said.<\/p>\n

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